Doing my own thing! (any tips?)

Hi all, I've played KSP since 0.18 so have some idea on how it works, but whenever I've played I have always used other users ships. I'd spend a while trying to do my own ship to reach Mun but give up and use someone's that works fine. I've decided to give the career mode a go and deciding to not download any ship builds, but just design and create my own - so far I've managed one ship into orbit and I'm on the 3rd tier in the science (and loving it!). I was just wondering if there are any mods that can help me with the science. I remember there being a mod that gives you numbers on how much power your ship has or how much it needs to reach somewhere, but have no idea what it's called. Any advice or help around building efficient ships from scratch would be great!TLDR: Any mods out there to help a noob with his efficiency?!

Kerbal Engineer Redux and MechJeb both provide delta-v calculations. As for how to build spacecraft: trial-and-error with a triple-shot of extra error.

Sure you could do calculations to figure out exactly what you need to get to a specific location and back, but that sounds boring to me. You have an unlimited budget and it's not as if you really care that much whether your kerbals survive. Of course, I do try to make sure my kerbals DO survive, so I give them ejection systems, but if one of them does die I'm not going to cry about it like I might if they were real people.

Hi, I'm using this Delta-V Map which seems to be more or less accurate. The exact values differ alot depending on when you launch, planet constellations etc. It also seems to imply optimal orbital maneuvers, so it can do no harm when carrying a bit more deltaV than showed on this map. http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/w/images/7/73/KerbinDeltaVMap.png

The mod "Kerbal Engineer Redux" can show you alot information while building your rocket. Most important the deltaV each stage has and the TWR (Thrust to weight ratio).

Kerbal Engineer Redux is a fantastic mod, You put a part on your craft as you build it and it tells you how much Delta V you have per stage and in total and the Thrust to weight ratio. Very handy for planning missions.